MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) Earns Outperform Rating from Analysts at Wolfe Research

Investment analysts at Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) in a note issued to investors on Thursday,Briefing.com Automated Import reports. The brokerage set an “outperform” rating and a $95.00 price target on the industrial products company’s stock. Wolfe Research’s price target indicates a potential upside of 18.63% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the company. Stephens cut MSC Industrial Direct from an “overweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $85.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Wednesday, December 4th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective on MSC Industrial Direct from $87.00 to $73.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Robert W. Baird raised their target price on MSC Industrial Direct from $84.00 to $91.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, October 16th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $83.80.

MSC Industrial Direct Stock Performance

MSC Industrial Direct stock opened at $80.08 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.21, a current ratio of 1.93 and a quick ratio of 0.90. MSC Industrial Direct has a 12 month low of $72.79 and a 12 month high of $104.76. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $81.94 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $81.88. The company has a market cap of $4.48 billion, a PE ratio of 19.11 and a beta of 0.91.

MSC Industrial Direct (NYSE:MSM) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 8th. The industrial products company reported $0.86 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.73 by $0.13. The business had revenue of $928.50 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $904.90 million. MSC Industrial Direct had a net margin of 6.21% and a return on equity of 17.80%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.25 EPS. Research analysts expect that MSC Industrial Direct will post 3.53 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at MSC Industrial Direct

In other MSC Industrial Direct news, CEO Erik Gershwind sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $90.36, for a total transaction of $4,518,000.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,402,849 shares in the company, valued at approximately $126,761,435.64. The trade was a 3.44 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director Philip Peller sold 900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $89.07, for a total transaction of $80,163.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 4,044 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $360,199.08. This represents a 18.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 18.30% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On MSC Industrial Direct

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 5.1% in the fourth quarter. Butensky & Cohen Financial Security Inc. now owns 55,458 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,142,000 after buying an additional 2,711 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. acquired a new stake in MSC Industrial Direct in the 4th quarter valued at about $2,654,000. Rockland Trust Co. boosted its position in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 50.5% during the 4th quarter. Rockland Trust Co. now owns 16,917 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,264,000 after purchasing an additional 5,674 shares in the last quarter. Matrix Trust Co grew its stake in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 240.3% in the 4th quarter. Matrix Trust Co now owns 1,572 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $117,000 after purchasing an additional 1,110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Ridgewood Investments LLC raised its holdings in shares of MSC Industrial Direct by 102.8% in the 4th quarter. Ridgewood Investments LLC now owns 15,045 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,124,000 after purchasing an additional 7,625 shares in the last quarter. 79.26% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About MSC Industrial Direct

MSC Industrial Direct Co, Inc, together with its subsidiaries, distributes metalworking and maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO) products and services in the United States, Canada, Mexico, the United Kingdom, and internationally. The company's MRO products include cutting tools, measuring instruments, tooling components, metalworking products, fasteners, flat stock products, raw materials, abrasives, machinery hand and power tools, safety and janitorial supplies, plumbing supplies, materials handling products, power transmission components, and electrical supplies.